Headline: Abstracts from Russian Letters
From Norka
On the 30th of November, Johann Georg and Katharina Feuerstein in Norka wrote a long letter of complaint and sorrow to their brothers-in-law Ludwig Schwindt and Philipp Scheidemann in Hastings, Nebraska.
In 1917 they had written to all their friends but six months later the letters all came back. Since that time they have heard nothing directly from their friends.
Their son Woldemar died in 1914.
Their oldest daughter married schoolmaster David Borgardt from the village of Schwed on the Wiesenseite.
"I labored at the mill," writes Mr. Feuerstein, "but for now the mills are all quiet because there is nothing to mill. Thousands of people walk around like ghosts and die of starvation. The bells toll continuously. Many people are buried without coffins and others lay in the hedges and pathways and are not buried at all.
The emergency is terribly widespread. The people have nothing in them and nothing on them."
One Pud (36 pounds) of fruit today costs as much as one paid earlier to buy 5,000 Desyatin of land (135,000 acres). One has to have a wagon full of money in order to do anything.
Those who planted potatoes in their backyard gardens, have by most accounts, had them stolen. The people eat only once a day and in spite of this they only have about 2 months of provisions to sustain their lives.
Much has been spoken about foreign aid. George Repp from America spent 2 hours in Norka and promised to open a kitchen to feed the children.
Children sit naked behind the ovens until their raggedy shirts are dry.
They would be happy with that which one formerly fed to the pigs.
Wholemeal rye bread or semolina for the production of beet soup would nourish them if only they had enough of it.
In 1917 they had written to all their friends but six months later the letters all came back. Since that time they have heard nothing directly from their friends.
Their son Woldemar died in 1914.
Their oldest daughter married schoolmaster David Borgardt from the village of Schwed on the Wiesenseite.
"I labored at the mill," writes Mr. Feuerstein, "but for now the mills are all quiet because there is nothing to mill. Thousands of people walk around like ghosts and die of starvation. The bells toll continuously. Many people are buried without coffins and others lay in the hedges and pathways and are not buried at all.
The emergency is terribly widespread. The people have nothing in them and nothing on them."
One Pud (36 pounds) of fruit today costs as much as one paid earlier to buy 5,000 Desyatin of land (135,000 acres). One has to have a wagon full of money in order to do anything.
Those who planted potatoes in their backyard gardens, have by most accounts, had them stolen. The people eat only once a day and in spite of this they only have about 2 months of provisions to sustain their lives.
Much has been spoken about foreign aid. George Repp from America spent 2 hours in Norka and promised to open a kitchen to feed the children.
Children sit naked behind the ovens until their raggedy shirts are dry.
They would be happy with that which one formerly fed to the pigs.
Wholemeal rye bread or semolina for the production of beet soup would nourish them if only they had enough of it.
Sources
Die Welt-Post, 2 March 1922, page 6.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
This translation provided courtesy of Hugh Lichtenwald.
Last updated March 6, 2016.